Waldenbooks, and more on the movies

Martin Luther King Day and lots of you spent it .... at the mall. Crowded in there, no?

On to...

Your feedback.

* First, from Nancy George, and the words go, "Is the Waldenbooks chain going out of business? Will another book store replace the Shoppingtown location?"

Waldenbooks did not renew its lease at ShoppingTown and joins the growing conga line out of the mall. Other vamoosers include Media Play, The Bon-Ton, Old Navy, Petite Sophisticate and Casual Corner.

Waldenbooks is not going out of business. It's owned by Borders Group Inc., which also owns 500 Borders superstores and 700 Waldenbooks stores. Well, 699 now.

As for another book store in ShoppingTown, there will certainly be room for one.

* Jeff checks in with this: "Love reading your blog. I was curious if Cinemark would ever think about expanding out of Rochester? It has always amazed me that they haven't expanded out of that area. They have great theaters, the best second rung (dollar theater) I have have seen (10 theaters), and even built an IMAX theater about five years ago or so. It would be great to see them expand into the Syracuse market. They could be a great fit for a Cicero slot."

Agreed. Here's who they are: "Cinemark USA, Inc. is one of the largest motion picture exhibitors in North America operating 310 theatres, with 3,357 screens in 33 States and internationally in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Panama and Taiwan."

Unfortunately, none of their theaters-in-development are in New York state, through mid-2007.